Is Disney at fault for disappointment?

[ArwenMarie]

That's a really interesting point...I didn't know I "needed" them, I thought they were just options. I think that is something a lot of us on here forget, that it's not obvious.

With people I've talked to who are planning a first trip, they really don't get it when I try to explain even the basics of planning.

My theory is that the name WDW "Resort" implies that it is a place of relaxation and all-inclusiveness. I think the selling of packages furthers this impression.

I sympathize with people who are disappointed, even if they didn't listen to me

 

[rwdavis2]

I have always likened a WDW vacation to an Everest Epedition. You need stamina, money, and planning.

 

[Ladyfish77]

Could it be that disney is NOT expressing the importance of "NEEDING" ADR & FP+?

I don't think Disney is informing people of the reality. If you watch their current commercial that is playing, people are checking into their resort and requesting things that allude to FP+, ADR's, etc and they show the CM magically making these things happen. This is unrealistic, but if people take that commercial at face value it is giving the impression that those things do not need to be planned in advance.

Thank goodness for sites like these that give such valuable information, but there are people who don't do the research and are unprepared for the reality when the commercial magic isn't available.

 

[DisDadDVC]

I don't think Disney is informing people of the reality. If you watch their current commercial that is playing, people are checking into their resort and requesting things that allude to FP+, ADR's, etc and they show the CM magically making these things happen. This is unrealistic, but if people take that commercial at face value it is giving the impression that those things do not need to be planned in advance.

Thank goodness for sites like these that give such valuable information, but there are people who don't do the research and are unprepared for the reality when the commercial magic isn't available.

Wait, are you telling me that Summer's Eve will not transport me to a field full of flowers!?!?

 

[Ladyfish77]

Wait, are you telling me that Summer's Eve will not transport me to a field full of flowers!?!?

Yes, yes it will--go ahead and give it a try!

 

[EvieBug]

I won't say it's fair to blame Disney, although I will say they really underplay what is required. That current commercial mentioned in the previous post drives me nuts for that reason.

I think the mailers should indicate "reservations required" or something for character dining at least

I do view Disney as a "big deal" trip but if I decided to say, take my kids to legoland for a day, I'm not sure I'd expect to need to research.

 

[hoosll]

Personally, I think if Disney is offering dining packages (paid or free), they need to make clear to the people who buy them that there is limited seating at TS restaurants so ADRs are highly recommended. I do think the credit card imposition and cancelation fine also make it less appealing to make ADRs.

They ask very high prices for tickets and now are getting you to pay for them 30-60 days in advance but don't emphasize the importance of FP+. Anybody else wonder how much extra money Disney is making when it "sits" on your ticket money.

Obviously, Disney does not care that a large percentage (unknown) is "one and done" with Disney, because there is obviously a large number of people who still return multiple times. As another thread has discussed, FP+ has improved the experience for Florida residents who can now be assured of at least 3 good rides - many are now "ride 3 and out"

 

[Mac30188]

I am probably in the minority here, but yes, I believe it is Disney's fault. Ultimately it is Disney that designs the systems and markets those systems to the public. If people become discouraged by those systems and stop going to Disney, I doubt they will go in front of the board with the excuse, "well, the problem is our customers aren't doing it right." It would sound foolish and rightfully so. The sophisticated planning heavy system that have been implemented by Disney is completely the responsibility of Disney. If they are not effectively giving consumers an enjoyable experience, it is Disney's job to change, not the customer.

The key point that is missing no matter what system you have, some people will be disappointed. Does this view point represent an outlier or is it a growing opinion of Disney? I honestly have heard more complaints recently about Disney than in the past. Was it the WSJ that had the article a couple months ago talking about how the planning tools were sucking the fun out of Disney? Personally I think the tool complaints are a symptom of a largely singular problem.

Disney has been focusing expansion in areas other than Walt Disney World. They pocketed profits as the popularity of Disney soared and now they have a capacity problem. They recognize the error in their way and are throwing billions of dollars at the problem, but there is little that can be done short term to solve the issue. Overly full parks with excessive waits = unhappy tourist. A system can mitigate the problem, but it doesn't solve it.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I will blame Disney for sending me mail a full week after FP selections telling me it was time to make them. The booklet said October 8th and I received it on October 16th. The email showed up at 4pm when I had all of them done at 11:15pm the night before.

They really don't do a good job on informing guests.

On the other hand you simply have to plan any vacation. Whether it's Mt. Rushmore or the beach there still needs to be some level of planning! Right?

 

[chelynnah]

I sort of blame Disney advertising. It's all about the magic and wishes and dreams, and all the characters are just right there and everyone's eating and happy. And it makes it seem so easy and carefree. But I think the truth is it lies somewhat with Disney and somewhat with the guests.

Friends went in January. This is a planner, and she had no idea about meet and greet lines, about ADRs etc. She booked BBB for her little girl, but showed up at the meet and greets AT the time expecting to just walk up. The Line cut off every single time and her little one was left crying when the last one cut right in front of her. They bought day tickets on the day, so no pre-booking FPs. They did on the day for the rides, but even I (who'd been there early 2013 without kids) had no idea you could/should get character FPs. And she didn't realise the need to get there 1/2 an hour before.. Ironically the only characters they managed to meet were Anna and Elsa (the hardest!) as her daughter finished up her BBB appointment. But she just expected that it would be like it was when she was there as a child. And we didn't think to tell her differently partly because we didn't know about the new system, and because she's such an over planner in every other area that we thought she'd have it together.

I booked my offsite accommodations a year before the trip after researching them for several months before that. I booked my flights the day the reward flights became available and I stalked them every day for 3 months. I read everything on the Disney site, made an MDE account, researched ticket prices etc, and looked into reservations. I tried to book BOG somewhere around 180 days out, but the site was glitchy and said it couldn't check that date yet, so after a few tries I figured maybe only onsite guests could. I tried again around 90 days out (still early by any other vacation standard) and of course they were all gone. Tbh they may have all been gone even if I'd got through at 180 days. After a week of stalking the website I called reservations on the off chance they could see something, and they had a lunch pop up. I grabbed it. This was our dream Disney Christmas trip and I'd take what I could to make it magical. And I kept checking back for the 'perfect' reservation, and planned to try again each MK day in person.

Although I'd been googling and researching for months, reading blogs, reading forum posts related to my questions, I was mostly relying on my own previous experience, google searches, friends and the WDW site. It's only really the past 2 weeks that I truly discovered this forum properly and have found out so much more. But due to medical issues I haven he time to truly immerse myself in it. Not everyone has that luxury. And it's been super helpful with a lot of the new things in place, and learning tips and tricks I never knew. I learned about touring plans and the lines app and OMGosh has that been a game changer. I'm still going to go with the flow, but to have that plan of action will really help.

Anyway, all this to say I don't consider myself a novice (but I'm definitely not a pro like Manu of you), and even I struggled to find the appropriate HELPFUL info direct from Disney -especially as we didn't book anything (except our MVMCP) tickets and a couple of ADRs through them. But as someone else said it would have been helpful if the site REALLY highlighted the need for reservations. And again though not a novice, we rarely do TS at the parks, so had never really understood the need for this.

Sorry for the babble. I just think there's much more to it than either/or.

(Side note, I did get out perfect dinner reservation for BOG through a lady on here giving up hers on the might of our party tickets, and opi managed to snag a Yak & Yeti last minute for lunch for a surprise bday for hubby. He knows about the reservation, but his birthday is the week before so he's not expecting it, cast member said she'd note it even though it was past).

 

[GPC0321]

In this day and age there is no excuse for people to say "I didn't KNOW...nobody TOLD me." It's called Google.
It took me ten minutes to book my vacation online and ten minutes later I had found this site. I haven't been to WDW in 17 years and I know more about the place than the people I know who go there every year.
Disney didn't have to hold my hand and tell me how important it is to plan ahead. Common sense, a bit of initiative, and an internet connection were all I needed.

I loathe the phrase "But nobody TOLD me" in most cases because usually it's something people shouldn't have to BE told.
Be freaking proactive in your life for goodness sake.

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

I don't think Disney is informing people of the reality. If you watch their current commercial that is playing, people are checking into their resort and requesting things that allude to FP+, ADR's, etc and they show the CM magically making these things happen. This is unrealistic, but if people take that commercial at face value it is giving the impression that those things do not need to be planned in advance.

Thank goodness for sites like these that give such valuable information, but there are people who don't do the research and are unprepared for the reality when the commercial magic isn't available.

I have to agree the commercial is VERY misleading.. And feel bad for the poor CM who have to check in those people who do take it at face value.

It's does amaze me how many people don't realize the amount of planning it takes to make a WDW happen..

A few years ago (before FP+) a blogger friend of mine asked me to help her with article "disney trip planning for kids with needs." I'll never forgot her face when I pullled out my disney binder.. She looked at me and asked if that was for one trip or ten! (It was for one trip) her little article turned into a 4!

Most of the response were "I would have had no idea!"
I told her to refer people to the DISbaords For any more question

 

[tnolan]

I always do my research and arrange my trips myself. My observation a couple of years ago that Haunted Mansion lines were getting longer and longer, led me to include HM in FP+ planning the next time, and now I'm always glad we do. It's the visitor's responsibility to make things as they want them, and plan ahead as much as they can. Remember, it's *your* trip, not the TA's. If things go wrong, it's not the TA that's going to be missing out, it will be you. A site I can thoroughly recommend for planning details is All Ears.net.

 

[chris springer]

I don't think Disney is informing people of the reality. If you watch their current commercial that is playing, people are checking into their resort and requesting things that allude to FP+, ADR's, etc and they show the CM magically making these things happen. This is unrealistic, but if people take that commercial at face value it is giving the impression that those things do not need to be planned in advance.

So......we believe everything we see on television?

 

[larryz]

I don't think Disney is at fault. I think when people are dropping thousands of dollars on a vacation it is on them to do some research.

The information is out there to find, if you want to find it. Can't force knowledge on people.

Sometimes. When people do the research, though, and make the ADRs at 180 days out, make the FP+s at 60 days out, plan their days for maximum spontaneity, and then WDW:

a) puts attractions on the refurb list
b) changes park opening hours
c) adds or removes shows and entertainment
d) rents out a park for a private event
e) doesn't have the transportation geared up for big crowds

then I believe Disney bears a big share of the responsibility...

 

[KaptainK]

I think most of us on here are hyper-planners and like to research and plan, it's part of the fun of the trip (at least for me!). I think many more people do not enjoy or know how to do that much pre-planning. I live 2.5 hours from Disney and it blows my mind how often people post on facebook something like "we're taking our first trip to Disney this weekend, any tips or things we should do?" I can't even start to help them because they are like a lost cause. For people that do live if Florida though, each trip does not cost thousands of dollars, you can just pop over for a few days. I never make ADRs because I don't care to eat at those restaurants. I do make a touring plan and get fastpasses for even our shortest trips because I want to maximize our time, but many people think I'm nuts in my level of planning.

It's not ideal that the way Disney is set up, those that don't do their own research (and research in the right places) are at a real disadvantage.

 

[larryz]

Personally, I think if Disney is offering dining packages (paid or free), they need to make clear to the people who buy them that there is limited seating at TS restaurants so ADRs are highly recommended.

They do. The pin postcard we just received stated that very thing clearly.

 

[chris springer]

Sometimes. When people do the research, though, and make the ADRs at 180 days out, make the FP+s at 60 days out, plan their days for maximum spontaneity, and then WDW:

a) puts attractions on the refurb list
b) changes park opening hours
c) adds or removes shows and entertainment
d) rents out a park for a private event
e) doesn't have the transportation geared up for big crowds

then I believe Disney bears a big share of the responsibility...

Agreed but......this does not change anything when the person going to Disney does not make any plans AT ALL!

 

[NYHeel]

I think Disney is at fault because the FP+ system is insane. The idea that you need/should book your ride 30-60 days in advance is insane. Most people don't realize that this truly needs to be done because it doesn't need to be done anywhere else. I spend the day at Hershey Park and there's nothing I need to know or do beforehand besides common sense. Obviously try to come when the park opens and do the big rides in the morning or evening. That's common sense. But to think you need to go online and pre-book 3 rides per day at specific times when most people don't even know which park they're going to be in that day is pretty crazy.

As for ADRs, I blame the visitor. It's a restaurant. You wouldn't go to your local sit down restaurant without making reservations. Now the idea of having to make reservations 6 months in advance is of course nuts but the concept of reservations for a restaurant is pretty normal and happens everywhere.

With that said, I've never once made an ADR and it's never impacted my experience. However, I eat Kosher so none of this really applies to me. I'm just thrilled that there's one quick service restaurant in each park that has kosher food. That's fairly unique from Disney and isn't replicated in other parks with the exception of Hershey Park which actually has a kosher place there. I have no need to sit down to a fancy dinner when I'm at a theme park. I just want food. The fact that I can eat something (it's glorified airplane food but it's still something) in the parks and not have to either bring dinner from outside like I usually have to is pretty nice.

 

[Accident]

Disney does a very fair, don't tell anyone how their family should plan approach and for this reason, it's not their fault. I've read on their website and seen in the planning videos that they mention that some things fill up fast and reservations should be made as far in advance if possible.

I personally don't care about fp+ or adrs. Sure i'll make a reservation or two before I arrive but I'd do that for any trip I take no matter where I'm going. If there is a place to eat that is important to me or my family, reserving in advance is part of it. I mean right now, I have 4 upcoming reservation for local hard to get into during holiday time dinners. This is at home, why would disney be different?

Now where your family and friends aren't enjoying the trip? like the second poster said, it depends on what your expectations where going into the trip. For some, they planned it to the minute and their plan didn't work and they hated the week. Others expect to walk in be there alone and anything they want to do is going to happen. There's 1000 other reasons why the trip is somethign you'll never do again. It's like me and the mall during christmas time. I swear every single time I'll never shop for gifts this way again and poof, I'm at the mall the very next year swearing off the mall again. The mall at christmas time is a lot like disney during crowded season.